Department for Business and Trade

Brexit

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to commission a review into the (1) economic, and (2) other, (a) benefits, and (b) disbenefits, of Brexit.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The Department for Business and Trade has no plans to commission a review into the economic, and other benefits or disbenefits of Brexit. However, to mark the fourth anniversary of Brexit, on 31st January this year, the Department for Business and Trade published an overview of Brexit successes: Brexit 4th AnniversarySince the referendum the UK has grown faster than Germany, Italy, and Japan. Latest figures show that UK exports are £855bn in current prices and 1% above pre-COVID (2018) levels when adjusting for inflation. The lnternational Monetary Fund (lMF) predicts that between 2024-2028 the UK will see the third fastest growth in the G7.The Department has secured free trade deals with 73 countries plus the EU, partners that accounted for £1.1 trillion UK trade in 2022 and simplified import tariffs to lower costs for businesses and households.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Gaza: World Food Programme

Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Food Programme's ability to scale up its humanitarian operation in Gaza.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We continue to support the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).On 20 March, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK has funded WFP to provide 2,000 tons of food aid, enough to feed 275,000 people in Gaza. This is our largest delivery of aid to Gaza during the current crisis.We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it, including through UN agencies and British charities.

UNRWA: Equipment

Lord Shinkwin: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported sale of equipment imported by UNRWA to (1) Hamas, and (2) Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously including reports of diversion of equipment. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. UNRWA has a number of measures in place to prevent aid diversion.We are closely following the independent investigation into UNRWA neutrality policies and systems, led by Catherine Colonna, which will look at all aspects of UNRWA's work.